Who Cares About Rules
by angelia-lover-of-blueroses
Summary: Ichigo is going back in time to kick Aizen's ass, properly this time. But first he needs to get his powers even if that means being a little reckless. He and Shibja are good at reckless. {Shibja my OC} {This is my NaMoWrNo and it probably come to an end, it won't be finish, think the end of the anime; it ends but it could/should still continue} Rated M for canon-normal violence


[A/N: This story is in desperate need of a beta. My English is not to pare for good fanfiction writing. Help! Other than that, enjoy. I'm aware the story is slow paced, if it really bothers you, I might be convinced to skip that and go straight to the action; because the end of my story will be a powerful!Ichigo time traveling and fighting Aizen. That however may take another 30k words]

[Also I use honorifics as norm in Japanese culture, which means most characters will be called by their last/sire name in dialogue often and in text I will call them by their first name. When presenting them I will do as traditional, which means last then first name. If you have any questions message me.]

"Yo Shibja!"

"No, absolutely not. Ichigo don't even think about it… You're going to do it regardless aren't you? Fine alright but I'm coming with you and I make up the rules."

You might be wondering who I am, other than of course someone with an epic name like Shibja. You might also wonder what Ichigo plans on doing and how I know him, how I know him so well.

Well you see, it started like this. When Ichigo was just 15 he had lost all of his remarkable Shinigami powers. In theory, now that they were gone he was going to start school again like nothing had happened but he found that this was impossible.

The history he had with the people there was complicated and often bad. They resented that he had lied to them. They understood it but they couldn't help resenting him. And whilst Karakura High School is the only high school in Karakura, one can tell by the name, there was another one nearby. You see Ichigo lives in the Minamikawase district which is at the far south-west and his school is in the far north-east district of Gakuenchou. So with a transfer program Ichigo was off to school in the border west city Naruki-Shi, which wasn't even that much further.

Where he would, in theory live a normal life. That's where I come in.

~#~

"So apparently we're getting another transfer kid," they automatically turned to look at Shibja. She sighed, leaning back in her chair letting her shoulder-length raven hair slip over the back rest, two of her chair legs off the ground.

"You just assume 'cause he's a transfer kid that I know him, being a transfer doesn't mean you know all transfer kids. Where is he from anyways?" Shibja asked, looking first at the chalk board and then at them.

Kagome, the class president, answered, "Well that's the thing, Tachibana-san. He's from Karakura Town."

"Well, why didn't you say so Kagome-senpai," Shibja said enthusiastically, her chair smashing back down.

"I know, isn't it exciting? I hear he's handsome and smart," Kaori said squirming.

This was possibly an over exaggeration. Anyways they'd fine out shortly. And indeed when class started the first thing the teacher did was introduce a new kid. 'Kurosaki Ichigo,' was indeed handsome, though intelligent had yet to be proven. He had not, however been in her class in Karakura so she didn't know him.

Luckily for Shibja, he really was very handsome especially with that color of hair, he sat next to her. "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you I'm Tachibana Shibja."

"Um, yeah," that was Ichigo, it's not that he wasn't social it's just his mind was often in the clouds. He made friends and he was a good guy but sometimes they would be in the middle of conversation when he would zone-out. He did it even more frequently in class, often looking at a carved wooden badge.

She had asked him once what it was. A relic of the past that no longer worked, or had no more purpose. Shibja imagined it must have belonged to a loved one for him to look at it that way.

He made more friends with the boys but he was friends with some of the girls. She was one of them. He was nice and interesting, which was weird.

He was interesting despite being someone with no ambitions. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. He didn't seem to be interested in anything; sports, hobbies or otherwise. The only thing that concerned him was surviving apparently. If half of what he told her of his father was true, that might be a bit challenging but still. The idea that there was nothing that made him want to get up in the morning was kind of sad.

~#~

Ichigo was liking his new school and his new friends, on the weekend he saw his old ones, they would all go hang out but every time they did he remember why he'd left. His relationship with Uryū was tense to say the least, Ichigo still can't remember stabbing him but he can remember waking up to see Zangetsu in Uryū's stomach.

At least Orihime has joined Rukia in the like-sister-to-me club; with the going to save them their friendship evolved even more but what after happen to her at Hueco Mundo, she is different. In fact he could say that for all his friends, now that they know what he was, what was going on, they are all different. They had to carry their unconscious friends away, they had to run for their lives.

The only one that hasn't really changed is Chad and Ichigo really loves that about him. He's a pillar of absolute that will always be there for Ichigo. Still, even with Chad, Ichigo can't say he regrets changing school.

He's made friends there, and whilst their friendship doesn't span back so long they are good. There is Nakahara Daisuke, who is the captain of the soccer team and pretty fun. There is Yamaguchi Hachiro, who is a friendly tag along that is good at long silences. There is Ito Kaori, who is a bit plain and a hopeless romantic, often only good at intellectual conversations but Ichigo finds her normalcy soothing.

Then there is Tachibana Shibja. She… Well Ichigo thinks she might be a little bit insane. She reminds him of Kisuke, a little strange, a little bit funny but he can see that it masks something worse. He finds out from Kaori that she lost her little brother to a mugging gone very wrong and her father to sickness. All she has left now is her mother who is always away for work and it shows sometimes. Whilst Shibja is often laughing and smiling sometimes she looks off into the distance and her smile cracks like she's being broken.

Ichigo did a rather good job moving on from his mother's death, relative to her, which is really say something when he thinks about he doesn't laugh and smile without a care anymore or ever cry. The pain and damage always lingered but now he feels a little broken around the edges too without his powers. That's probably why Ichigo and Shibja hit it off so well.

He likes going to her house, it's always calm and peaceful there. Not to mention it always smells good. Often from baked cake but also sometimes from candy. When Ichigo works with the much appreciated but not necessarily needed help of Kaori. Shibja cooks candy, she buys candy by the kilos and always has some for lunch, but she prefers making it herself. After trying it Ichigo can't help but agree. It tastes divine. Although the store bought candy is already better than any other candy he knows, she says she had to go out of town to a little shop in the middle of nowhere to get it, it's the only candy she likes.

But despite that good candy, her's is like the work of angels. One day while working at her place, Kaori has gone into another rant about her 'horrible' boy problems, Shibja looks over his shoulder and comments at a doodle in his notebook. "Oh, that's a pretty cool looking mask. Are you going to carve it out of wood like your badge or is it like a tattoo idea?"

Ichigo is startled, he didn't even realize what he was drawing; it was his old hollow mask from before the incident with Ulquiorra. "A tattoo? No. I don't want one of those."

He thinks of Shūhei Hisagi and his tattoos, the blue-grey stripe across his nose, the choker and armband and the number 69 on his cheek. He then thinks of the numbers on the Espadas and shakes his head, "I don't, really think they're for me. And um, the badge I, umm, didn't make it and it…. It doesn't need replacing."

She gives him one of her strained smiles and he doesn't know what he did to put it there. She wanders back into the kitchen. Kaori doesn't do serious, so she says in her a quieter version of her just-talking-about-the-weather tone, "Shibja-san has two tattoos."

He doesn't understand why she's using that rarely used tone then or why Shibja smiled like that until Kaori adds, "One for her father, one for her brother."

Ichigo gives her an appreciative nod. To lighten the mood, he says in a loud voice that will easily carry to the kitchen, "You know if you like it all that much I could make you one. You could wear it to scary the girls. Of course, you don't need a mask to scare the boys; your face already does that for you."

Kaori is surprised by this statement and after a pause, bursts out laughing, clutching her sides. Shibja throws a wooden spoon from the kitchen door, "Oh, you wait boy. When I'm done with your face it'll scary away even demons."

He can tell is good natured from the smile that is genuine and they chase each other around her living room until a timer in the kitchen goes off. He goes and rejoins Kaori, he was still one of the top of his class when he was a substitute Shinigami and now that he doesn't have to run off in the middle of the lesson he is third only to Kaori and Kagome, the class president.

It was said all teasingly because Shibja isn't ugly. Ichigo personally even thinks she looks better than Kaori; the boys are just all over her because she lets them. Shibja has black hair, like it would seem all the population of Japan except for him, a normal figure and small grey-blue eyes.

By the time Ichigo gets home, he's just in time for dinner. He no longer skips it or eats in his room. He doesn't need time to think or be alone and every time he see Shibja's broken smile he remembers the value of family. Sometimes he eats at Shibja's but it's rare, Kaori doesn't like staying out that late and whilst Shibja can cook cake and candy the same can't be said about dinner.

"ICHIGO!" His dad yells trying to jump him with a kick to the face. Ichigo just side steps him and lets him crash to the ground whilst greeting his sisters. His father starts wailing at his mother's shrine, "Oh Masaki~! Look at our son! Out all night with girls and he won't even bring them home for his father to see them!"

"There were guys too," Ichigo states as Hachiro is there for a few hours before he leaves for his part-time job. And Daisuke is there when he doesn't have soccer practice and Kaori can convince Shibja that it's worth having a stuck up guy at her house because he's handsome. So whilst he is sometimes the only boy, it's not like all he does all day is hang out with girls.

"Ichigo why didn't you tell me you were into guys as well, I-" Ichigo smacks his dad in the face. Ichigo simply can't believe the nonsense that comes out his mouth.

"Onii-chan, is this true?" Yuzu asks full of sisterly concern.

"No," Ichigo says and looks at his father crumbled on the ground and shakes his head. If it is true, which unlikely but possible, Ichigo doesn't know for sure yet.

~#~

Ichigo goes to Kisuke's shop over the weekend because Renji and Rukia are there. He briefly went down in the under-ground area to watch but it's creepy to see Chad fight against an invisible foe. He climbs back up and after getting assaulted by Yuroichi's boobs, sits down to talk with Rukia. He's missed her but even with her things are strained. She is wearing a gigai so Ichigo can see and hear her. When Renji is done sparring he will wear one too.

They don't really have anything to talk about. While everything she says about the Seireitei is interesting, none of it applies to him anymore and it never will. Just like his high school life and his recent joining of the swim team, for a fee, isn't a concern to her. They are good enough friends that the conversation is enjoyable but should they have never talked, it won't have changed anything.

Ururu steps in and talks to Kisuke, "Urahara-sama, we are out of Candy Paste; Apple Flavor."

[A/N: Kracie Majomajoneruneru Candy Paste is a real thing]

Rukia, Yuroichi and Renji (now up from the basement) all examine out loud, "You actually sell candy!"

"Yes, yes of course I do!" Kisuke says laughing, throwing open his fan and following Ururu to the stock room.

They all peer out where a high school student has two baskets full of candy. Kisuke comes back in a moment, Ururu carrying a cardboard box. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry about that. We would hate to disappoint our best customer. But not to fear, we had more in the back."

"Our best customer? More like our only," Jinta grumbles from the back room with the others.

Ichigo, who is coming back from the bathroom, is confused. "What are you guys all looking at?" He looks out to the girl and is startled. "Tachibana-san what are you doing here?"

She looks up from taking the Candy Paste packs by the dozen. "Me? What about you? You know I eat candy, seeing me a candy store can't be all that mind blowing. But you, you, and what are you doing here?" She comes to the counter, her baskets now very full.

He stands on the other side and helps Ururu register the items without really even paying attention, just helping automatically. "Um, well. You see I'm friend…-ish with the owner. And so are my friends. So I sometimes hang out here."

Ururu steps back and lets Kisuke take over. "So you two know each other? A friend from Naruki-Shi High School. Well, isn't it a small world."

Uryū came running through the door, "Chad-san could you-?"

Before he could finish his sentence, Chad goes running out of the backroom. There must be a hallow presents that Ichigo can no longer feel. Uryū is a little beat-up but not bloody.

Rukia is still in the backroom but her head that is poking out is looking at Uryū, "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"My chain, the chain that holds my Quincy cross, it broke. I couldn't summon my bow without it as a bracelet," he said ever so slightly hysterical.

[A/N: In dialogue I use the English terms, Quincy and Soul Reaper. In the text they are the Shinigami and Kuinshī. It's to get the best of both worlds, same with the names. They will be called by their first names in the text and by the appropriate honorifics in the dialogue.]

Shibja turned left, Uryū had yet to notice her so concerned with losing his only means of attack and defense. "Well if the links that make up the chain have only come apart I know a great shop that can smelt it. Or you can just replace the bracelet and keep the same pendant."

Uryū look in her direction, for someone excellent at sensing spirit pressure she had gone completely unnoticed by him. That's the kind of state he was in. He takes a deep breath, recollected himself, pulled his glasses up his nose and responded to her solutions, "That might work but I was thinking of Orihime-san's talents, Urahara-san's expertise or even Kido."

She blinked at him slowly. Kisuke stepped in metaphorically, cutting her off before she could even say anything, "Yes, that would work too but you see to Tachibana-san those might not have been the first things that come to mind since she doesn't know anything about such matters."

"Oh," Uryū said letting that sink in for a moment, "Wait, you mean she's a normal costumer. You have those?"

Shibja started to laugh, a sincere but light chuckle that Ichigo heard relatively often. "Urahara-sama, just what kind of shop do you run here?"

Ichigo looks her dead in the eyes and answers, "Geta-boshi runs the kind of shop that caters to werewolves and vampires."

It is so unexpected and absurd yet close to the truth that everyone bursts out laughing expect for Uryū and Ururu who just laughed quietly. Kisuke picked up the broken bracelet and pendant to examine why it had broken.

The Kuinshī kurosu is the source of a Kuinshī's power and as Uryū powers grew so did his cross. Originally a simple cross, it grew into a pentacle; Kisuke assumed that the chain was part of it but he could be wrong. If the chain is part of the cross, this could be very dangerous meaning that Uryū could be somehow losing his powers. "I'm gonna have to run a few tests," Kisuke mumbles, running the chain between his thumb and index fingers.

Uryū nods and Ichigo turns back to Shibja, who has been storing her purchases to make it easier to count them. She smiles at him, looks over at Kisuke as he leaves and her smile cracks. Ichigo is use to this by now, she doesn't ever stop smiling but sometimes it looks like she dying painfully despite her smile. Often at the mentions of things that remind her of her family, which aren't obvious things like someone mentioning their own family but little things like her little brother's favorite dish or holiday generally celebrated in family.

Her triggers are many and complicated but Ichigo has gotten pretty good at avoiding them. This is because unlike some of her other friends, he isn't afraid to ask what caused it. It's too late anyways, she's already been hurt, and it won't make it that much worse.

"Tachibana-san, may I ask?" Ichigo tries to be sensitive it wasn't ever his strong suit but between Kaori and Hachiro he's improved.

Her broken smile, mellows lightly, her dead eyes shine a little, "It's just that pendant…"

Kisuke and Uryū stop in their tracks, everyone's attention going to her. She doesn't seem to notice. "He had the same one, although he wore it around his neck."

Ichigo swallows and makes a helpless motion. "Your brother or your father?"

"Oh," she looked startled like it was obvious, "My father."

Ichigo wanted to swallow again, a tide of horror rushing towards him, "Your father, the one that taught you archery. The one that had dementia and started seeing things that weren't there."

Shibja isn't smiling, she just looks confused. Her expression speaks for itself. You already know of this Kurosaki-san.

Ichigo made a helpless noise and Kisuke hummed, tapping his chin with his fan, "Small world, small world…"

Ururu being the lovely little girl she was cut through the awkward silence, "That will be 7537 ¥. Would you like me to bag it?"

Shibja shook her head, her normal smile only smaller as she cleared the counter full of candy into her daypack. Ichigo, Kisuke and Uryū silently communicated with each other. They needed to talk and to do that she needed to get out of the room.

Kisuke put on a fake smile and pulled out his fan, "Oh Tachibana-sama, you hardly need to pay that steep price, you are my best costumer, not to mention a friend of Kurosaki-san~!"

He pushed a few buttons on the register and number dropped to 6000 ¥. She smiled a big, broad smile that was only strained near her nose from the previous conversation. "Thank you so very much." She hands him a 5k and 1k bill, waves at Ichigo and leaves.

They stare at the closed door for a moment longer and then look at each other. They all pile into the back room to sit around the table whilst Ururu serves them tea.

"So I want to say that obviously her father was a Quincy but Uryū-san lost his sensei, which Kurotsuchi said was the last Quincy he saw, Shibja-san's father lived still for at least 5 years after that," Ichigo points to them.

Yuroichi, whom Ichigo doesn't believe is drinking tea, is the first to put forth a theory, "Soul Reaper have been killing off Quincies for a long time. It's possible that his pentacle was a family heirloom."

Orihime seems saddened by this theory whilst Rukia seems angry, "And then what? He had inheritable spirit pressure that grew as he got older, until he could see hollows. But what? But he had never been trained, or hell, he didn't know anything about them and so unable to protect himself, they killed him? Or their presents, which only he could see, drove him mad, until he killed himself?!"

Renji covers her hand with his. Kisuke speaks the simple truth, "Though that might be unpleasant to consider, it is very possible. Ichigo-san, is proof that spirit pressure can be inheritable and the Quincy's powers have always been passed along in a family. I don't know of any Quincies that weren't related to other Quincies, even if the relatives didn't teach each other.

So it would be logical to assume that Quincies are born with something that differentiates them from humans, probably beyond being born with spiritual pressure."

There was more silence as everyone thought of this.

"So Geta-boshi, does that mean… I mean is she in any danger?"

"Possibly, yes. Although Quincies are normally male, this is probably a question of gender roles than a question of ability or power," Uryū nodded as Kisuke talked, although he didn't know a lot about other Quincies, he agreed with these assumptions. "Assuming that she will get spiritual pressure like her father, and as much, assuming her mother didn't change that, then she could be in danger. But then not for many years to come and as long as one of us helps her, she should be fine."

"But what are the chances you're still friends with her in 20 years?" Renji asked.

"Slim, even if we stay friends during high school that only gives us a year and a half," Ichigo says, scared by the idea of not being able to protect someone he calls a friend.

"Couldn't we tell her now?" Orihime asks, the light of optimism as always.

Kisuke, Uryū, Rukia and Yuroichi share a look. Yuroichi is the one to finally say something, "That might not be a good idea. She doesn't have spiritual pressure so there is no way for us to prove this to her. She won't be able to see hollows or Soul Reapers or anything 'supernatural'. And if we tell her this, she won't trust us and then if something happens to her she won't turn to us."

Renji coughs, "Ichigo-san. Turn to Ichigo-san. She doesn't know any of us."

Kisuke is offended by this suggestion and pulls out his fan. Things digress from there.

~#~

When Shibja gets home she puts away her candy, she has so much of it that she doesn't store it in her kitchen but a dresser in her bedroom. She takes off the blue leather jacket she always wears when she's not in her school uniform. Underneath she is wearing a halter top, she often wears them because they leave her shoulders exposed. On her right arm over her bicep is her two tattoos, the stem of a pentacle in dark blue.

[A/N: Does anyone know how to add pictures]

The other tattoo was the _Itowa ni ken Mitsu Chanomi_ family clan symbol without its outer circle for her brother. Her father's tattoo was size of the bottom of an aluminum can. Her brother's had a circumference equal to a rally baton.

All that talking about her father had gotten her slightly tense. She started munching on paper candy as she picks up her gear. Her mother isn't home, Shibja is certain, she would know. If her mother was home Shibja would feel her walking on the floorboards, hear her moving about, opening doors and lifting things. Hell, Shibja would probably hear her mother breathing.

Shibja is very in tune with all her senses, she doesn't even wear socks at home to best feel the vibrations of the floorboards. When her father died his last words were something he had said occasionally to her as a child and constantly when he was sick, 'Can't you feel/see/hear it?' He would then look at her and just shake his head. Shibja is pretty sure it's the ravings of a mad man but still. After he passed away she would deprive herself of her senses to hone the others.

It was technically completely pointless but Shibja liked the way it made her feel, like there wasn't anything she couldn't anticipate.

Shibja, now eating another sheet of candy paper, grabbed her bow and quiver, and headed out the door with her archery gym-bag. She went to the river side were there was grass. Every kilometer or so there was a football pitch but there were also trees and benches and at one point there was a concrete wall.

The wall was in case of floods but the idea was later trashed after they came up with an alternative. Yet here stands a concrete wall, covered in graffiti, parallel to the river and about 15 meters long and 2.5 high. She strapped on her forearm guard, changed from her ratty sneakers to a nice Velcro pair of light-weight running shoes.

Also in the bag was a candy purple colored wireless headphones. They completely blocked off sound when she put them on, she then set up can and cartons at varying distances from the wall. There was always litter there so there were other large targets like beer bottles and cans, newspaper and trashes.

Shibja was about 3 meters away and she closed her eyes. She couldn't hear the wind like she normally could, the whole world was quiet. The vibrant colors she could normally see were gone leaving in their wake utter blackness. She took a deep breath, those weren't senses you could take away. It was always hard to distinguish taste from smell, the two being so closely related. But air could only be in odor, so all she could taste was the remaining flavor of Juicy Sweet-Strawberry Gum. The air smelled brown-earthy smell _tsuchi no_ of dry land near a river, it smelled lightly of pollution. Not the heavy smog of big cities but not the crisp grassy smell of the country side. Urban town smell.

She could feel the clothes on her skin, where her pants, bra and shoes were tight against her to be held up. The lighter sensation of fabric on her torso and legs. The wind of the spring to come was blowing from the south, running gently over her skin.

Shibja slowly released her breath and started up her playlist. She knew it by heart now. It always started with _City Escape_, which was a great workout song. Very upbeat and great for moving. Not much of a warm up though, jumping straight to the sprint.

The next song was steadier, not increasing and decreasing in tempo as much. Low base with louder vocals, _Enjoy the Ride_ was a song that Shibja enjoyed singing, her soft melodic voice contrasting to the electro tune.

She had another electro tune afterwards called _Nobody_, it wasn't as fast and hostile as _City Escape_ or as steady as _Enjoy the Ride_, starting with normal pop and guitar with vocals and then slightly aggressive dubstep/techno before more pop/guitar/vocals.

The songs continued, getting aggressive with throaty/shout-y vocals in Demons and King for a Day, Time of Dying; steady songs with solid beats like Odyssey, LE, Get Back (ASAP); riling rock that had loud basses and insignificant vocals like Inside of You.

Every time her quiver empties she runs and hurries to collect her arrows as fast as possible. When shooting she moves and dodges to no existing projectiles. By the time the playlist is over three hours have past, she is drenched in sweat and her hands throb.

Whilst she had many callouses, the one of her index finger was turning into a blister. She drank more from her water bottle, wipe the sweat off her body, dunked her towel into the river before toweling herself off again. She looked at the completely destroyed targets, smiles a free happy smile and took off her head phones. They were gross and sweaty and she would wipe them when she got home but for now she threw everything into her gym bag and headed home.

~#~

Shibja went to a sewing gallery and stopped at a cute winter dress with a matching scarf. There was no one at the stand or a sign that said don't touch so she touched the fabric of the skirt part.

"I'm selling it if you want it. It was intended for someone with black hair anyways," someone said from behind her.

She had heard his footsteps come up behind her and stop but she thought they were just looking so despite her fine senses she jumped a little anyways. "Oh, I see. I don't know if I could afford it anyways."

Shibja turned around just to come face to face with the boy she'd met at the Urahara Shop. He seemed startled to see her here too. "Your Kurosaki-san's new friend, aren't you? May I ask what you are doing here? Don't you live in Naruki-Shi?"

"Well, I use to live in Karakura town and we only moved when I transfer before high school. So as I lived my whole life until I was 14 here, I'm use to coming here. So Kurosaki-san and I often hang out here."

"I'd say any friend of Ichigo-san is a friend of my but his taste often leaves something to be desired. I can only hope your better than that hopeless boy. I'm Ishida Uryū," Uryū said in a very dry tone, putting his glasses up his nose.

Shibja laughed, not at all offended, "And I'm Tachibana Shibja. Sometimes I think that if I see him wear another 15 t-shirt I'll burn down his closet, honestly, that boy is lucky he's so handsome."

They both laughed at that. The play on words that was his name was kind of funny but if he chose to continue to dress like that Uryū was going to sew strawberries on everything he owned. They made small talk, avoiding any mention of the cross and when all was said and done they had promised to do archery together and she had a brand new dress and matching scarf for only 8000 ¥.

~#~

"I must say that it's strange to imagine Ichigo-san having such a calm friend," Uryū said one day as they were shooting in the forest he had used for training before his first visit to the soul society. His accuracy was superior to hers, not greatly though. His spirit pressure was good at guiding the arrow so it hit his enemies. He also wasn't use to reloading with a quiver, he was downright terrible at that.

"You do realize you are one of Ichigo-san's friends right? Are you telling me you aren't calm?" They both laughed, Shibja seemed to laugh at everything that it made Uryū feel bubbly inside and as if everything was funnier.

"Maybe, but I'm not as close to Ichigo as the others."

"I don't know he might not like you as much but he's closer to you, like a relative. Like a cousin, you might not like each but you are as close as can be," She pondered, trying to make her thoughts into understandable ideas. She and Uryū shot at the same target and the arrows made a screeching and clacking noise as they collided.

"Sorry," they said at the same time.

Shibja laughed again. "But I don't know, Kurosaki-san and I are only close because of circumstances. Now that there aren't those circumstances any there is no reason for us to hang out," Uryū tried, at his turn, to explain his own thoughts.

Shibja hit another bull eyes but she didn't stop to gloat instantly notching another arrow. "That sounds like family alright but most people, even when they leave home will still stay close to their family. Think about all your shared experience; and it's not as though he would just abandon you."

Uryū thinks about it for a moment. "If I was in danger, if I was kidnapped," he thought to Rukia, a girl Ichigo had known for two months and Orihime the best friend to Ichigo's best friend. "I feel like he would come save me."

Shibja had a bright smile that went from ear to ear. He didn't know what it was about this girl but she always seemed to laugh and smile. Not a problem but somewhat disconcerting.

When they were packing up to go, Uryū tensed and Shibja, with her honed senses noticed the sound of his clothes moving being disturbed. "Tachibana-san get out of here now!"

She strained her senses but she couldn't feel anything out of place expect that it felt heavy, but if she doubt Uryū would be that concerned if it was only going to rain. Never the less she did as she was told. She threw her water bottle, shoes and towel into her bag, her quiver still on her back and bow still in hand she darted towards the path.

"Ishida-san are you coming too?" She asked still running, not hearing him follow.

"No! No, don't go that way… And I have to stay here," he yelled, his voice was tightly controlled panic.

'Don't go that way,' is not a very helpful statement though, and Shibja didn't know what she was running from or where it was, never the less, as the good and obedient person she was she turned sharply and run off into the woods.

There was the vibrations of something heavy coming up behind her, there was the snapping of trees but there was no revving of an engine or breathing of an animal. Shibja didn't have time to ask stupid questions though and kept running. If her new friend wanted to face a giant invisible monster he could.

But she wasn't fast enough, rather than going after Uryū, the creatures wraps a giant hand around her waist and lifts her. Her gym bag stays on the ground as she rises. She screams rather quietly all things considered, maybe if she could see that she was dangling above a mouth full of sharp teeth, or some sort of giant acid filled Venus flytrap it would be scarier.

She clawed at whatever was holding her with one hand, the other one still clutching at her bow. Blood floods out of the wounds as the texture goes from dry and skin like to wet and slick. The heaviness, which is stronger now that she is feet away from the creature, increases when she wounds him.

It is beyond her hearing but she imagines it screams causing Uryū to cringe. He is holding an invisible bow in his hands, or at least he is making the motions of firing a bow and every time he does, the hold on her shifts or looseness or tightens.

"Its hide is too tough for my arrows," Uryū says with strangled voice, "And I can't aim at its mask when he's holding you."

Shibja would like to write down the historical moment when Mr. So Much Better than Her can't make a shot, but she too busy struggling in its hand. The creature swings his hand around until the only thing between Uryū and the monster is her. The hand rattles her and she still can't hear it or see it but she can feel its presence more now; but however she stretches and hones her senses she just can't.

There is her irregular and deep breathing, the steady breathing of Uryū who has an athletic body, there is the noise of the river but no monster. Very distantly is a car, which must be going up a mountain path because there is no road near; this place is too far from the city.

There is beating of her heart, the singing of birds so far away that they don't feel the presents of this monster, and the rattling of 15 arrows in her quiver. Her quiver!

Her bow that is still tightly clenched in her left hand. Uryū might not be able to get a good shot, either because she is in the way as a hostage or because the shot is too difficult but she could do it. It's still a difficult shot, the monster's hold on her isn't steady and she can't sense it all expect for the heaviness it emits.

That might be enough though, she knows he is right in front of her, his footprints (creature like feet) facing Uryū and the human like (expect for the size) hand congruent with it being in front of her. She takes a breath and then a draw fast enough to make her a legend in the Wild American West; she has an arrow notched and shot straight into his chest.

She shoots three more, one more to the torso, one to the arm that is holding her and one that misses all together. It throws her roughly to the ground. There isn't enough time for one of her twisting contortions that land her on her feet. Instead she curls her torso forward as she lands, leaving the impact on her butt, the behind of her legs and her feet. She hasn't any damage to her spine but a slightly compression and her arms, an archery's greatest weapon, are fine. The whiplash she gets is painful, spend a week in a neck brace painful but not terrible, she avoided any head trauma which is the most important.

Twelve arrows left, now. She knows where it is though. The three arrows waving the air tell her exactly where her target is. Once free from its clutches though Uryū has a clear shot and with one invisible arrow (one loosing of the bow), the heavy presents disappears quickly getting lighter and lighter until only the humidity is left.

"Yeah, well," Shibja says on shaky legs. Her injuries kind of suck right now. The world sways, the pressure that once crushing her now leave her feeling empty. She doesn't know it's because her own spirit pressure was completely consumed resisting and attempting to see the hollow. There is nowhere to sit but her legs her, a hand to the back of her thigh comes back covered in blood.

"Tachibana-san!" Uryū yells and then there is nothing but blackness.

~#~

Ichigo has long since stopped trying to help at the family clinic, he is simply completely useless. Instead he curls up behind the counter on a spinning chair and pretends to do his homework. It's not that Ichigo isn't a good student, it's that Ichigo is clever enough to be nearly top of his class whilst battling hollows full time that now with the constant study sessions at Shibja's place he has top marks that rival Kaori. They always switches who has the top grades and they are always only a few marks away.

There was some kind of boat accident so the hospital is full which means that other patients are being brought here. Most of them are injured but not critically. Ichigo is trying to doodle anything but his hollow's mask. Instead of drawing his visored mask, he draws Shinji's mask.

He groans and thumps his head against the wall. It means he has his head up to see Uryū covered in blood, carrying in an unconscious Shibja. Ichigo leaps to his feet and helps get her onto a table, the back of her legs are all torn open and bleeding. "What, what happened?!"

Isshin comes in, rather serious, "What do you think happened, she encountered a hollow."

Ichigo is confused until Uryū with an imperious lift of his glasses clarifies, "She couldn't see it, it was after me and she was in the way. It taking her hostage meant I couldn't release my spirit pressure too much without risk to her, she did well to defend herself." And with that said, he places a bow and a quiver, now with her 20 arrows, down on her bed side table, dropping the gym-bag on the floor. In less than 30 minutes, Isshin has cleaned and bandaged her wounds, there was no need for stitches, the cuts, whilst numerous weren't deep or long.

"So she's not a Quincy then? If she couldn't see it," Ichigo finally asks as his dad leaves.

Uryū starts to nod and then hesitates. "I could always see hollows; I didn't to be trained need that but my father is an active, practicing Quincy. However, it some believe that the first Quincies couldn't see hollows, they just knew that monsters were killing their loved ones so they found a way to retaliate."

Ichigo looks down at the girl in the clinic bed, part of him was proud of her, killing hollows was noble and meant she was strong, but another part of him, a guilty part of him that probably use to be his hollow, didn't want her to have anything to do with hollows. He didn't want her to see them, he didn't want her to fight them and most of all he didn't want her to run off after hollows and leave him behind.

But it was selfish to think that way so he locked that part of himself and pushed in down. He was choosing to be happy for her.

~#~

When Shibja woke up she instantly knew that something was amiss. The previous day came back to her immediately. She could feel the faint tightness on the skin of her hand that was always present after archery. She could feel a different kind of tightness and pain from her legs that came from torn open skin rather than worn callouses.

The sheets were thin and scratchy cotton that she associated with summer-camp, the kind that institutes by in bulk. The feeling of the sheets, coupled with the smell of sterilization and the feeling of being far away from her painful body, that she acquaintance with painkillers, let her know where she is better she blinks open her eyes.

It's hard to tell how long she been awake, which she normally judges by light and stiffness in her muscles because she is unfamiliar with this room and between her injury and the painkillers it is hard to pin down how she feels.

There is a tension in the sheets from a familiar mope of orange hair sleeping near her hip. _'It really is an absurd color,'_ she can't help but think. She doesn't dare touch him though and possibly wake him from his slumber. A light curtain is muting the light and so whilst Shibja could tell that it was either dawn or dust, not knowing this room and if the window was looking out east or west had left her unsure. However Ichigo's sleeping form is all she needs.

Ichigo's sleep pattern is too heavy and deep, assuming that Uryū brought her to the hospital, no wait, clinic, the size, material in the room and Ichigo's presents make it most likely. So assuming Uryū brought her to the clinic right after their fight with the invisible monster as fast as possible, so via ambulance which would have been overkill. It would have been 5:30-ish, assuming the doctor only took 15 minutes that for Ichigo to be in that sleeping pattern of more than 40 minutes asleep, to match with the setting sun, which this early in spring is around 6:30, means that Ichigo went to go see her and fell instantly asleep.

Ichigo is a lot of things and he does a lot of things that Shibja doesn't understand or cant' explain, no matter how she reasons or watches, but he is someone that always has his guard up. He doesn't casually fall asleep and the slightest noises often wake him up. He's touched that he trusts her enough to sleep in her presents. Apparently he locks his door so his father wouldn't kick him awake, in retaliation his father comes jumping in through the window.

Touched she might be but it was unnecessary. Uryū, the smartest of the bunch, went home. Once the doctor had seen after her there was no reason to be worried. She sighs and lies back down. She has at least an hour before school, no need to stress. She is certain there is a good reason why Uryū is gone and Ichigo is here, she just doesn't know it.

Argh… Shibja wished that she'd stop making friends with everyone for once. Being friends with Uryū and Ichigo reminds her of the cold war. A war that seems inevitable, a loud, hot-head vs a quiet logical boy, but yet…. She doesn't really understand what their deal is actually. It's like they should be friends and on paper is touchy but lovely friendship between opposites. But Uryū doesn't remotely trust Ichigo and Ichigo, who carries as much guilt as Shibja, carries particularly heavy guilt just for him. They are like a spark stone in a dry climate, something is bound to happen and when it does, everything will catch on fire and burn to the ground.

Mindful of her legs she scoots and carefully pillows Ichigo's head onto her stomach, he makes a sleepy contented noise. She feels bad enough about him sleeping at her bed side in a hard plastic chair she'd hate to wake him. But on the other hand she'd love to also wrap a blanket around him. With nothing left to do she falls asleep, the heat from his cheek seeping onto her stomach and her head turned so she can see her bow and quiver.

~#~

Ichigo worried at Shibja when Uryū leaves, "Stop worrying, she's not seriously injured. She'll be fine."

Uryū words of comfort aren't all that comforting. How serious is not serious? Will it scar? Would Shibja want that? Or should he contact Orihime? He picks up his phone to call her a dozen times but he just stares at the keypad. Maybe he should be calling Rukia to wipe her memory but if he doesn't, he could talk to Shibja about it, well, everything that matters to him. In the end he does make a phone call, to Shibja's mother to tell her that her daughter won't be coming home to night because she's crashing on his couch.

Ichigo feels bad about lying but Shibja's mother isn't a pleasant woman and Ichigo respect her less than Uryū's dad and he is well aware the Shibja lies to her mother constantly.

Ichigo still feels guilty though and he knows why. He should have saved her, he should have been strong enough to save her but he's not strong enough to save anyone, ever. It hurts, it really does.

Once over a bowl of freshly baked sablé, strange but delicious hard French biscuits, they talk about their future. They, Hachiro, Daisuke, Kaori, Shibja and he, start by talking of their immediate plans for college, ideas of possible careers and their possibly hopeless dreams. Daisukes knows realistically that he probably won't become a famous soccer player but he can dream. Hachiro would want to be in charge or a handler for secret spies. Ichigo only wanted to protect those he cared about. And whilst Kaori gushes about how good of a boyfriend he could be, the others talk about how he could become a cop or a fireman to quench his need to help and save others.

He could possibly become a fireman, that seems like something he would like but the fear, the idea of all those people he won't be able to save, the very thought of it eats at him and kills him a little inside.

Not knowing what to do, he rests at her bed side, watching her breathe in and out regularly. He knows that she doesn't have nightmares as bad or as frequently as he does; it that aspect she is not as broken as he. But then again, whilst Shibja has seen two of her close family member, only one of them should have cause guilt, her being there and unable to help her little brother as a mugger stabbed him, Ichigo on the other hand had not only directly caused his mother's death, let alone fail to protect her but he had also never gotten killed and gotten his friends killed dozens of times, not to mention that even though he doesn't regret his actions, he had killed the Arancars and tried to kill the ex-Shinigami. Monster they might have been but they looked human with bodies that didn't disintegrate, red blood, normal voices and they could feel pain. When awake he knew that they had it coming, that they were just hollows but his subconscious couldn't see it that way. He had killed people.

It's hard having the blood of people on your hands and being 15. Shibja, who didn't even know any of the story, was the only one that helped him. The Shinigami were apparently so use to it, Uryū and he weren't exactly on speaking terms, Chad and he didn't do emotions really, and Ichigo was pretty sure if he talked to Orihime it would only make things worse.

He once looked up online what people did when they were suffering of PTSD or trauma. It suggested he talked to someone but he had already ruled out all his friends and then it was suggested to talk to his family. For once Ichigo wished for a normal relationship with his father. He wouldn't ever put such a heavy burden on his sisters. Shibja though, she had no idea what was going on but she helped anyways. She was a steady, constant aide that stayed the same no matter what was happening, first time he had a panic attack since his mother's death she helped him, but when he was raging or feeling border lined depressed she acted like nothing was a miss.

Ichigo was using her a bit like a replacement crutch for not having Chad anymore; except for the added mental support to his burly friend's emotional and physical support. Shibja wasn't overly small or fragile but when guys picked on Ichigo because of his hair, not concerned by the girl she would surprise them and kick their ass to kingdom come. That's not to say Ichigo and Daisuke didn't help. Although with Shibja's epic control of her temper, she was often able to rein him in before it escalated to violence. He realised that if he stopped being such a hot-head and ignored them, some, although not all, would lose interest in goading someone that didn't rise to the bait. He couldn't help it though sometimes, he had inherited his hair from his mother even if her's was more of a brown color. Insulting his mother was a good way to get the shit kicked out of you.

Since Ichigo had started hanging out with them, Shibja had started carrying a sling-shot because whilst she wasn't bad in hand to hand combat with her weapon of choice she could turn anything from cans to rocks into projectile. This generally evened out the playing fields, it meant Ichigo could take them on one-on-one or fewer-on-one as some of them would be distracted by her.

She deserved his vigil at her 'sickbed', hell she deserved him saving her ass from that hollow but being unable to do that, this would have to do. He knew that until last winter, if in the same situation he would trained but now it didn't matter what he did or how he trained, he could never get his powers back. Is this how Orihime felt? Helpless like this? God, it sucked. After eating at her side, he unknowingly and accidently fell asleep.

~#~

Ichigo stirred repeatedly as Shibja hovered between the land of sleep and wake. It seems that when the nightmares started he would burrow into her stomach and fall into peaceful and deep sleep again. She was happy to not have been a complete burden.

She heard someone walking down the hallway, a man, if the weight of his footsteps was anything to go on. When he turned onto her hallway he stopped for a moment before continuing but now he didn't have shoes. Shibja shook Ichigo's shoulder, he made an 'ahum,' noise and looked at her warily.

Lowering her voice so that it might not be heard in the hallway, "Your father in 4, 3, 2-"

When she had said father his eyes widened and he straightened but she kept him down with a hand to his shoulder. She pretended to sleep on her side, mouthing the numbers. Before she had even said one, her door was thrown open, "Good Morning! Dearest Son!" and Ichigo jumped off his chair and glided under her bed, perfectly ready for the jump kick to his face.

Ichigo slid under her bed and jumped up and over it smashing a two feet kick to his torso. "Shut it Oyaji!" He stood there in her 'hospital' room, yawning and rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. He looked at Shibja who was sitting up in her bed and they gave each a look. This look was the same one they gave each other when they had worked together or as a team to defeat some punks. It's nice to know their awesomeness didn't change just because it was for his father.

"Excuse me, Kurosaki-sama, is it okay if I leave?" Shibja asked, all politely like she didn't help beat him. Between her and Rukia, Ichigo needed to stop making friends with girls that were such good liars.

"Is that really safe?" Ichigo asked a little alarmed.

She nodded, "Sure I don't have any stitches, and I just need to make sure it doesn't get infected, that's all. I was just wondering if I was going to get an explanation about the invisible monster or if you were going to either wide my memory or threaten me not to tell anyone."

Ichigo just looked at her like he had just realized the amazing woman she was. "Part of me wants to say you've been watching too many movies but then I remember that Rukia can actually wide memories. Which I said was for you to decide when you woke up." In truth Ichigo hadn't asked Rukia so much as decided that that was how it was going to be.

"Well if it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep my memories," She then gave Ichigo one of those shy smiles that clearly stated she was still on Ichigo's side. The first time she pulled that one on him, he thought he was going to give it all away by how his jaw dropped.

They had been surrounded by these punks and they had been saying the normal taunts. One of them was along the lines of, why would a pretty girl like you hang out with a guy that had such an ugly hair color, and much to Ichigo's shock Shibja agreed. She turned around gave his the evilest smile he'd ever seen off a battlefield (like a real one, with Shinigami and death) and winked. Needless to say but they got their asses handed to them.

He wasn't sure why she smiled like that now and she didn't tell him all day, instead when they got to school guys tried to look under her skirt with the excuse of looking at her injuries. She was more than capable of defending herself normally but with her injuries it was harder to move around, so Ichigo had to be her body guard. In class, the hard wooden chairs didn't help so she knelt on her chair backwards and placed her elbows on the table to take some of the weight. She sent Ichigo notes the whole day teaching him a new way to code them.

On thin, waxy, 'one-sided' [this is an expression for when something is so thin it might as well be one-sided] paper, she would start with a quote, a quote he knew. There would be a word that wasn't supposed to be there and he would hold the paper over it and then he could read the rest. At the beginning of each paragraph there was another quote and he would have to fold it differently. It was difficult and he didn't always remember the quotes well enough. This kind of paper didn't crease where it was folded so he had no way of guessing.

She then made him write back using this technique, that was even harder. She wanted him to write sentences that were logical before and after it was folded. He thought of Rukia's notes, that didn't make any sense when one didn't decode it, looking instead like gibberish.

Those were much easier to do, however when Ichigo taught it to Shibja, she added to her folding technique, making his life that much more difficult. For the last hour, she wrote a note, whatever she was writing wasn't very long but complicated because it seemed not even she could make it make sense.

When school ended she stopped him in the hall and gave it to him, it was a little odd but it made sense without folding. He first removed the unnecessary kanji that corresponded to the doodle in the corner, it still made sense; which is pretty impressive. He then folded it, recognizing these quotes, and it made sense more or less but he wasn't sure what the message was.

"Now read it backwards," Shibja leaned forward and whispered as the two of them still stood in the hallway. He did and it made sense, _'I want an explanation of what happened to me last night. We can talk about it at my home but now we have means to talk about it at school. If I write in blue it will mean fold, green for remove words and black for backwards. I might use more than one but that is both harder and takes longer. '_

"This is impressive," Ichigo said looking up, Shibja smiled beautifully and dragged him away. When they arrived at her place there was Daisuke and Kaori flirting at the table, the table was small and only made for two, Shibja and her mother, so Hachiro was crossed legged on the floor doing his homework on an improvised table. He had used six cartons of candy as a base and a large wooden plank, which probably came from the garage, as a table top.

"Hachiro-san, you'll give yourself blisters writing on that plank," Shibja said, got a tablecloth from a cupboard and put it over the plank.

They spent the afternoon, mostly goofing off although they somehow managed to finish their homework; then when it was time for Hachiro to go to his part-time job Daisuke left with him to soccer practice. Kaori went as well, wanting to gush over the soccer team as they had recently changed from their long sleeved winter outfit to the short sleeved spring one. Ichigo thought it was kind of insane that they played all year round. And sometimes when the indoor arenas were booked, they would practice outside. Ichigo refused to join the team simply because of that.

No amount of money could convince him to run in the snow for more than an hour. Ichigo called Karin to tell her that he was eating at a friend's house and he might sleep there. He had purposely not called his father but his father was still wailing in the background about abandonment or something. Ichigo really didn't care anymore. He had yet to meet Shibja's mom because she's always away for work but Shibja has nothing nice to say, to the point where Ichigo thinks that they genuinely hate each other.

When everyone else is gone, they grab a duvet and sit cross legged on the pillows on the same side of the make-shift table pretending it's a futon. They mingle their legs together and munch on a bowl of snacks that balances in a dip on the blanket between their knees.

"So," Ichigo said readying himself and nabbing a popcorn kernel from the bowl. He thinks back to the last time he had this conversation. He was bound with Kido and being shown terrible drawings. "Yesterday, you were attacked by a hollow. That's a human spirit gone evil. There are a few reasons that they can become hollows, but it's not the spirits fault. Nice people, who die, if they become a hollow it is the worse of them; their fear, anger or rage, that surfaces and dominates everything else. To prevent them from being created and to kill them once they are, there are Soul Reapers. You see once you pass on, you go to soul society. Once there you can either chose a normal life, or if you are strong enough, in terms of spirit pressure you can go to the academy and if you pass with high enough grades, you will become a Soul Reapers and a member of the 13 court guard squads.

Soul Reapers carry weapons called Soul Slayers. With these, once they kill a hollow, it will purify their soul and send them to the soul society. If the spirit is still benign, it is a plus and with a soul burial, the spirit will be sent to the soul society.

More or less everyone I know that isn't from school is or was one. Urahara, Rukia, Renji, all are. Chad and Orihime had powers, which is very strange and unusual for humans.-"

"And what of Ishida-san?" Shibja interjected, this was interesting and she understood but god, Ichigo was telling her all this unnecessary information.

"Oh, he's a Quincy," Ichigo answered automatically, munching on pretzel sticks. He stopped and looked at her, blinking sheepishly. Shibja's apartment was never quiet, even if all the high school moocher had a lull in conversation, she was always humming, whistling or singing. The silent was so strange that he almost immediately continued his mouth still full of pretzels. "That's the enemies of the Soul Reapers. They fight hollows and destroy their souls, unlike Soul Reapers that cleanse them and send them to soul society. That's why their enemies, because Soul Reapers think Quincies upset the cycle of life and throw the world out of balance whilst Quincies think that the creatures that hurt their loved ones should be shown no mercy. They kill with bows made of spirit particles; then they can create and fire arrows as longs as they have spiritual power and can absorb spirit particles. I have to say though I don't really understand it all. I was a Soul Reaper and whilst Uryū-san tried to explain it, I didn't really get it all. So I don't really know how spirit particles and spiritual power differ as a source of power."

This was a serious topic, and Shibja had been taking it seriously but when Ichigo started to babbled at this lack of knowledge she laughed, hard. Until she was bent in half, her face pressed to the blanket. Ichigo blushed, all embarrassed and threw the snacks at her. Shibja just tipped her head back to catch some of it. It smacked her in the nose and forehead. It was Ichigo's turn to laugh and Shibja's to blush.

"Come on Kurosaki-san, explain about spir-" he cut her off by throwing her braid into her face.

"Shut it. I was going to before someone's," he glared without any really malice at her, "ceaseless laughter interrupted me. I hope that she's done." Shibja looked like she was about to explode laughing but she didn't say anything.

"Spiritual Power is something everyone has but most humans don't have enough for it register. Few people, very rarely, have enough to see the supernatural. They can see hollows, pluses, Soul Reapers indiscriminately. That's what I use to be. Then there are those humans with more, that manifests itself in their powers, Soul Reapers who live for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years had never seen humans with powers. Then again my presents might have influenced them, you see I had a lot of spiritual pressure and I couldn't control it which kept summoning hollows to me.

And there are three ways to get spiritual pressure as a human besides what one is born with, it being given to them by a Soul Reaper, which is very illegal and punishable by death, being near people with higher spiritual pressure but that isn't very affective, and lastly, how Orihime and Chad developed theirs, is by the long presents of a hollow especially if one is in spirit form. You see you can get out of your body, where it just your spirit attached to your physical body by a chain. If the chain is broken however you can't go back to your body and you're dead. Because you see when the soul is in danger it will try to become more powerful, mostly people die instantly by hollows, and their soul doesn't know it's in danger because they can't see it.

The greater the spiritual pressure, be they human, Soul Reaper, Quincy or Hollow, the stronger their power. Spirit Particles are simple things that make up all of the world. I'm not sure where they come from but there is a low concentration in the human world. In places like the Soul Society or Hueco Mundo, it makes up everything. Hueco Mundo is where Hollows reside."

Shibja understood about the Reishi and the Reiryoku and their purposes, she only had three questions but one would have to wait. "What happen to your abilities and spiritual pressure? How did you get it?"

"Well, I was born with it, unnaturally high for a human but then a Soul Reaper, gave me her powers; that's when I learned how to be a Soul Reaper. When she was kidnapped I lost these powers, only through a very dangerous process was I able to get them back. Had I failed I would have turned into a hollow, and would have needed to be killed. Even when I succeed the worst part of my soul, my fear and rage manifested and if I didn't supress him, he would have controlled my body and consumed my soul. I afterwards lost it in order to defeat a very powerful enemy," Ichigo sounds saddened by this, even if it is simply fact. His history is just as plain and true as what he stated before.

Shibja now can ask her final question, "But Ichigo, can't you get your powers again? If not by the same means because it was illegal, then by a different one."

Ichigo shakes his head, "In order for the second or third way to work, you need to have at least a little. I have none at all. But I don't, many the 13 court guards squad could make an exception. Either because of all that I've done for them or because they need me again."

"But you don't really know," Shibja questions, they are now very close to each other under the blanket. She is so close that her knee bent in front of her is touching his solar plexus. The food bowl sits on the table and their hands are under the duvet. They aren't using them to touch each other, just support their position.

Ichigo laughs, but the time for loud laughing fits is over. "I don't know much of anything when it comes to that, I just ran in blind and learned what I could along the way." They are more solemn, which is extraordinary because Shibja is rather uncontainable, but it would seem that talking of Rukia, Chad and Orihime in just dangerous situations is a mood killer. Ichigo can't even describe how Shibja is good at being comforting but she is and as Ichigo has no one else to lean against.

They talk the rest of the night and every fear he has she puts it to rest with great care. He tells her of his stories chronologically. She hums lullabies whilst he talks, they are steady and peaceful, every time he stumbles or hesitates, he stops, listens to the tune and continues. He goes over some things faster than others. His visored training is described very briefly but he spends about 20 minutes describing Zangetsu, his inner world and his hollow. He tries to make her understand. At first she didn't understand his insistence.

Ichigo understands concepts well, his problem is explaining them to others. Shibja is, luckily, a very clever girl and when he rambles between Zangetsu's manifestation, Kenpai's screaming sword and how Renji achieved Bankai by learning to manifest his zanpakutō; she understands that it is either a manifestation of part of his soul, or another part of his soul that only Shinigami have access to. Whatever a zanpakutō is, it's clear that Ichigo has lost part of his soul. She can see how broken up he is about it. At first he calls his inner hollow Shiro for the sake of conversation but Shibja thinks it shows a great lack of imagination and he calls him Shirosaki.

She is mildly more tolerating of this. The more Ichigo speaks the better he feels and when they finally fall asleep late into the night, he is talking to her about how scared he was of Shirosaki and afraid of what his hollow might do if he lost control. That is possibly the only good thing to come from his loss of power, Shirosaki will never be able to hurt anyone else. He confessed in a whisper, when the lights are all off and he thinks Shibja is sleeping against him, "But deep down, I might just miss him. I would rather have him than be all alone in my soul. Zangetsu was right, it is so lonely in here and when it rains I feel as though no one will notice if I drown."

He drifts off but Shibja is still awake to think one more thought, it is something she has long since considered but didn't dare say anything because he is coping. It's true that Ichigo's hair gets him in trouble but it's also true that he could run away or not rise to the bait. She has seen the way he throws himself into fights, like he wouldn't mind dying in it. Everything he has told her this evening should dispersed these thoughts, a boy would have to fight in a war, fight to save what he wanted to protect. But that's not the conclusion Shibja has come to at all. He fights like that because without purpose he is like a ship with a broken sail, he feels so useless but he loves his family too much to ever out right kill himself. That doesn't mean he wants to keep living, and definitely not like this. He is a ship lost at sea with no sail to go home.

~#~

Ichigo walks up to Shibja singing, all cheerful and loud. Despite only getting about three or four hours of sleep, he feels well rested. This might be because he got so much off his chest. It's good. She warms for them large bowls of miso soup because they didn't eat a meal last night.

He is hungry and happily scarfs it down, she has put egg in it and Ichigo thinks its delicious. The rice is a little over cooked compare to how Yuzu makes it. He doesn't say anything and they talk about unimportant things like the previous night never happened. Sometimes they just sit in comfortable silence, Ichigo is completely thrown that people can have peaceful mornings, honestly his father. Although it isn't really quite, even when eating Shibja is humming or sitting a few bars of some song. Ichigo doesn't recognize a single one of them.

"Ichigo, if you never want to tell me more, you don't have to. But if you ever need someone I am here for you," She says it in a light tone but he can tell the seriousness from the smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"I actually don't have anyone to talk to about this. All my old friends and everyone associated with that walk around me like I'm made of glass and I'll snap if someone mentions anything supernatural. I would love for you to be my confidante. It's sometimes hard," Ichigo says, his face slightly less scowled than normal.

Hard? Shibja knows this is a grave understatement even if she only had one talk with him. Risking his life to save the girl that gave him the power to save his friends. Only to have her insulting him after he touched the enemy, lying dying on the floor, choking on blood as she leaves with her brother out of a miss guided sense of duty.

But a miss guided sense of duty seems to be the similarity in all the Shinigamies. The captains that won't release their Bankai to fight Aizen, so Ichigo, a boy of 15, which they abandoned when he called for arms, who had in the last 24 hours fought the sixth strongest Espada until he was nothing but a bleeding mess and had been blasted apart only to be brought back by the sweet, desperate, love of the girl he was trying to save.

Young boys shouldn't fight in wars, no one should really fight in wars because they tear people apart whether they win or lose but especially not those that have yet to kiss a girl or finish school, grow into the bodies puberty has thrust them into. Ichigo is still growing, Shibja could tell before he told her of the restrictive current. It is obvious to someone as observant as her, the hem of his t-shirt rides up over his belt on his week-end clothes and his pants skirt the back of his sneakers. His school uniform is however new and fits him fine.

~#~

What's amazing is how nothing changes. She asks Uryū is they can do archery again and he looks at her, wondering what she has been told or she had been made to forget, but he agrees. And whilst she stretches her sense even more, to try and sense Reiryoku by sensing Reiatsu, she is rather bad at it. Reiatsu is the physical pressure that a Reiryoku creates when released.

She can tell that Uryū, Orihime and Chad have more than Tatsuki, Keigo or Mizuiro; that Urahara's could swipe the floor with his but he keeps his under the fiercest hold second only to Uryū's.

It hard to judge them but Shibja figures it out, when they control it, their Reiryoku is like a stagnant block, if they doesn't know how to control it flows out in waves of reiatsu. The bigger the waves, the larger the source. It isn't there fault that they don't know how to not release it. To judge the size on one's Reiryoku if they know how to seal it, one must wait until they get emotional, be it happy or sad and the block will vibrate causing phantom waves.

It's very hard to describe it but reiatsu is like force that has nothing to do with pressure but might as well be it because they behave the same. For those that can't control it, reiatsu is like the ocean lapping away at the rocks, eventually the ocean will win and erode the stone. If Ichigo was boasting and he only had half the Reiryoku he claims to have had, it isn't a surprise that his friends got that much Reiryoku. Because as the ocean turns the stones smooth, that level of exposure increases their own Reiryoku. She knows that it wasn't just Ichigo's presents but also their encounter with hollows.

More than almost anything she wants to be able to see hollows but she doesn't spend merely enough time with any of Ichigo's friends nor was she in presents of a hollow for ever long.

It took Shibja three weeks to sense Uryū's reiatsu and another week to then figure out how much Reiryoku he had. It's going to take her two months to even know that Urahara has any, if Ichigo hadn't told her he was an ex-Shinigami, she wouldn't have known. But it was difficult looking for something she knew was there but had only felt once, the heaviness for the invisible monster she had fought.

Know that she has it figured out though, its child's play for her. Ichigo tells her that sensing how much Reiryoku someone has when they're not releasing Reiatsu is impossible. Shibja just shove it in his face. She can't even really but it into worlds, you can't describe color to a blind person and whilst everyone has felt pressure before, no one can invent a new color and no one truly describing something one has never felt. She knows that she can.

When she meets Renji and he teases Rukia, she can feel his Reiryoku, like he has a void in chest in which something comes and nothing passes. He's pretending to be human, who don't have Reiryoku but instead of there being nothing, there is something, the bigger the something, the block, the bigger his strength. She can even, eventually sense the seal on his reiatsu, like a fennel on his Reiryoku.

But it's far too slow going for Shibja, she wants power and she wants it now. Ichigo misses his power like there is a whole in his heart and their might as well be, rip apart from his soul. Not only that but a soul he became so very close to. There are those Shinigami that doesn't even know the name of their swords or what their manifestation looks like but Ichigo had Bankai, Ichigo knew his soul so very well. Not only did he lose Zangetsu but he also lost Shirosaki.

Ichigo wants to get his powers back he will settle for living vicariously through her. Even if he tells her 10 times a day, just how dangerous it can be. Shibja doesn't care, in very much the same way that Ichigo fought, not only to protect but because he enjoyed fighting, Shibja wanted that. She wanted to fight, to hear the blood sing through her veins.

~#~

"Ichigo, I'm not getting anywhere like this. I can sense reiatsu and even Reiryoku which is perhaps, strange or even unheard of but I still can't even see hollows," Shibja had in a tone that was barely complaining. She knew how much Ichigo would love to see hollow again. Ever since that night he had been telling her of his time as a substitute Shinigami.

Ichigo had never really confided in anyone since his mother when he was very young, it was very strange. He felt light and free of burden which was not what he was used to. He cared around guilt for his mother's death, his father and sisters' lose, then Rukia's capture, Aizen's escape, Orihime's capture. It was like a never ending list of crimes. He felt better when he save Rukia, better he defeat Ulquiorra but Grand Fisher was still out there and he found little satisfaction in the defeat of Aizen.

In the end he was just a lonely sociopath that had gone crazy in the lust for power.

"Well, what do you think I can do about that?" Ichigo asked Shibja, he didn't have powers to give her, or one of those phones that knew where hollows were.

"Isn't there a place where there are often hollows? I don't like a graveyard or something," Shibja said strapping on her quiver and forearm protector.

"No, not graveyards, spirits stay where they died. There is this turn on the freeway where there are often pluses. There were often hollow that went there too. But Shibja-san, it's dangerous. We don't know if your arrows will be enough to kill it. We should… we should, call someone like…"

Ichigo didn't want to call them but he would rather throw away his pride than for Shibja to die. Shibja gave him her terribly evil smile. "It's best to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. Start a conversation on your phone that can contact all people capable of helping, just in case Ichigo-san."

He and Shibja were now on first name bases, which really isn't all that surprising when he thinks that be poured his heart out to her. Not only did he tell her all that had happened to him, he has also include how he felt. His first and only really confidante, they had told each other everything until they had no more secrets. Despite being of different genders they could and did fall asleep together on a couch, under a 'futon' or even on a bed. It made Ichigo's friendship with Chad look like mere tolerance.

Ichigo liked her idea, it was a plan, a thought-out plan should something go wrong but it was still reckless enough for him to like it. As they were walking to the stretch of road that cost so many people their lives, they passed a consecution site.

There was barely anyone working there and at the entrance there was a stack of straight pipe. Better safe than sorry. Ichigo took his own weapon, lifting them until he found one of the right weight and length. Even if he couldn't get his powers back, he still wanted to be able to defend Shibja.

When they got there, they sat on the hill that lead down to the road. There was two different areas with flowers. One was larger and for a family, a father, a daughter and his son had all lost their lives; the other pile of flowers was smaller. There was no picture and Shibja imagined an old man that perhaps been deeply loved but not my many.

They sat there and talked for about three hours, Ichigo's pipe lying on his leg the top being held, Shibja's bow drumming against her waist and ribs.

They looked over the road that had claimed many lives and talked about Ichigo's past. Today's topic was the visored. As Ichigo talked, Shibja listen, humming a song and thought about how not only Ichigo used his powers to save those he loved, and because he enjoyed fight but also the duty to protect innocent people who couldn't save themselves.

When Shibja mentions this, Ichigo readily agrees with her. He had left Yammy to the two captains because Karakura was his duty. That saving Orihime was one thing but defeating the Espadas, Aizen's creations in Hueco Mundo was Seireitei's reasonability. He only had to defeat those that were attacking his friends and threating his town. Because his town was his responsibility. Especially when Rukia had given him his powers. It had been her duty to protect Karakura and without her, it became his.

Ichigo was about to explain who afro man was, and why despite him, his friends were needed when Shibja's neutral gaze tightened. "Um, should I text them?" Ichigo had his phone out and was hovering over the key pad.

"Wait, I'm not sure. It could just be- It's a hollow. Send it," Shibja said notching an arrow but she kept her bow down. Ichigo did, the text was prewritten.

_'Help. Hollow at freeway south of convenience store.'_

Ichigo looked out as did Shibja, because it was one thing to know there was here but it was another to see where it was.

Shibja's senses had all been on high alert, which means she sense the wind pick up from the south-east. The pressure dropped as the wind brought clouds, it was going to rain earlier than the weather had forecasted. Across the road where there was a stretch of flat grass and she saw a plastic bag lift and float first right before moving quickly with the wind. The wind wasn't going right.

At this distance, she couldn't tell if there was any reiatsu. Ichigo still noticed her tense, but she wasn't sure. If it was there, she couldn't feel it. Why couldn't she feel it? It, that fucker! It was suppressing its reiatsu, maybe hoping to make a meal out of them with the pluses.

It could probably sense the reiatsu that lingered around them from hanging out at the Urahara Shop. Shibja could, given the time, tell exactly who's reiatsu was on them and where but now was not the time. She can Ichigo the okay and pulled an arrow. She stood, leaving her bow pointed downwards, string not pulled.

It was too far for her to sense it, so she had to wait until it either released its reiatsu or moved something. Ichigo had the pipe lifted like a baseball bat and was scanning the grounds and the skies.

She was just looking on the ground, "Can they fly, Ichigo-san?"

"Rarely but yes. They can also all jump really high," Ichigo whispered, it was strange to hear Shibja so serious and quiet. Ichigo couldn't see anything though and he doesn't know what she saw originally.

An arrow goes flying from Shibja. It stops less than three meters in front of them, embedding itself into the air. "When did it get so close?!" Ichigo says, adjusting to face it head on.

Shibja grumbles, "I can't sense them from far way, I could only get a good shot when it's nearly on us." But now, that isn't true anymore. There is an arrow waving around the air and she knows just where to stick the next three.

All of them hit but only two embed into the air, the other one bounces of what is surely the mask. "Did you see that, Ichi-san?" The heat and urgency of the battle makes her shorten his name.

"Don't call me that!" He roars, charging forward and smacking at where the mask should be. The arrows form a kind of upside down triangle half a meter under where the mask should be. However they become invisible as it blocks Ichigo with his arm (?), she can't be sure what happened other than Ichigo didn't hit the mark.

With Ichigo close up, the hollow releases his reiatsu which makes Ichigo stagger on his feet. However now everyone will know exactly where they are so there is always that. And more important Shibja knows just where he is.

She summons all her rage and passion at the monster, she can feel her reiatsu rising. Her Reiryoku is tiny so it isn't that impressive but never the less she let it pour out of her and she shaped it into an arrow like she imagined a Quincy might. Her arrow glowed orange and with the last of her strength, she released it. It hit, but it must have missed the mask. It made a loud noise upon impact and let out a bright flash of the orange light before nothing.

The hollow seemed to roar, Shibja feels like she was being crushing, dropping to her knees. It pulled the arrow out and charged towards Ichigo. She was exhausted with that last attack and couldn't seem to stand up, let alone keep her eyes open.

Ichigo stopped the hollow with his pipe but he went flying back, it was that much stronger than him. If Shibja fell to the blackness, she would die, he would die. She thought of look on his face when he told her that he'd lost his mother to a hollow. That ingrained belief it was all his fault, the look when he told her he had fought it years later as a Shinigami only to lose.

That was why Ichigo deserved power, he deserved to win, he didn't deserve to be cast a side by some simple because he didn't have his powers. Ichigo was strong and give the chance he could be strong again. But his strength was beyond his hollow and his zanpakutō, it was the boy that wield them. It was his refusal to fall even now.

Shibja was going to show them. All of them that only saw Ichigo as a tool that could see his wonder. She pounded her fist into the earth and pushed on her elbow. He wasn't go to fight alone, she would be there, she would make Ichigo smile.

Ichigo watched as Shibja was brought down by the hollow's reiatsu. He saw her counter with her own reiatsu but unlike the people he had faced, all ranked officers or higher, it was made of thin tendrils rather than the straight beam. She placed it all into an arrow that hit the hollows neck. He could now see the burly shape enough to now that it had not hit its mask.

The hollow then turn and ran towards him, considering Shibja finished as she slumped on her knees. But Ichigo wasn't go to let her down, he was going to fight and he was going to win because apparently that was the only way he was going to get out of here alive. Where the hell was everyone else?

He braced himself with the pipe in front of him, held like Zangetsu. But he no longer had his reiatsu and without that to feed his strength the burl sent him off his feet. He lie crumpled on the floor, barely able to breath, still holding the pipe in front of him. His hands were killing him just from holding it. He struggled to his feet, pushing up off the grassy hill. He hit it the hollow in the mask but he was to tire to break through it, all that for nothing. He had fought Lieutenants, crazily over powered third-seats, captains, Arancars be they Espada or Fraccion, and he'd fought against whatever the fuck Aizen was at end; like hell he was going to lose to some lowly hollow.

He stood and charged, giving it his all with a might scream as he broke the hollows mask. From what he could tell from the fuzziness the mask was pierced in two places and cracked in between those holes. The bottom was where the pipe had finally broken through and the top was another one of Shibja's arrows!

He turned around to see her swaying on her feet, bow clutched tightly. He smiled and she returned it with her evil, accomplice smile. He turned around and wrenched the pipe to the right lifting and tearing the mask completely. The hollow didn't fade like if they'd use a zanpakutō, instead it just died and stayed where it feel, bleeding over the hill.

Ichigo hobbled to Shibja, he had a sprained ankle, some bruised ribs, and his hands were torn open bleeding where he had held the pipe. It would be just his luck to catch lead poisoning. Shibja wasn't looking at him but rather looking beyond.

"Can you see it?" Ichigo asks in a quiet voice, the adrenaline is leaving and his torso hurts from breathing that feels natural to not strain himself by talking at a normal volume.

"I can, but just a blur," Shibja answers just as quietly.

"Yeah, just a blur too but it seems to be getting clearer," Ichigo says looking at it really hard.

"Stop it, you can't surpass me. I-" The rest of Shibja's sentence is lost and she tries to stand up and sways dangerously.

"Wow! Take it easy, are you okay? Are you injured? Where?-"

"Stop it, or I'll always call you Ichi-san." Shibja cuts off his tirade as he lifts her, one arm over his shoulder. "I'm not hurt, I'm just tired. I think it is because my spiritual pressure is drained, it's leaving my soul exhausted."

Ichigo nods but before he can say anything, another burl appears before him.

~#~

[So this is the end of chapter 1. I think there will be 3 or 4 chapters. I won't be writing this much though, this was simply for NaMoWrNo. I will still write during the holidays but not through my mid-terms. Expect updates every week-ish. Alex, from tumblr, has offer to put my entire story in one tense, not however any other corrections. Hope you've like it so far and if there are any scenes that would like rewritten/ elaborated just let me know.]


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